Shown the door by JC, Justice Ojha ‘congratulates’ the media

Ananta Raj Luitel
Kathmandu, December 27:The Judicial Council (JC) today dismissed Supreme Court ad hoc judge Pawan Kumar Ojha two years after his appointment.The JC took the decision unanimously.The JC decided to make permanent two other judges, Rajendra Prasad Koirala and Tahir Ali Ansari, who were appointed ad hoc judges along with Ojha.The practice followed till now was to either extend the tenure of ad hoc judges or to make them permanent judges . Ad hoc judge Paramananda Jha was demoted from the apex court two years ago after a controversy over one of the judgements he delivered .Just four months before the end of the royal regime, Ojha was appointed ad hoc judge in the SC. He had supported the unconstitutionally-formed Royal Commission for Corruption Control that detained democratic leaders. King Gyanendra nominated him as Attorney General after he seized power in 2005.There were only two permanent posts and we selected just two,” JC member Basudev Dhungana said. “We selected them based on the Judicial Council (Procedure) Regulation 1999, which says the JC should select judges with competency, courage, performance, “ he said.Following the decision the JC secretariat forwarded the names of Koirala and Ansari to the Parliament Secretariat to conduct hearing, according to JC spokesperson Nahakul Subedi.After being shown the door, Ojha congratulated the media for the ‘success for their goal’ to oust him from court. “I must congratulate the entire media world,” Ojha said sarcastically.“I do not react against the decision. People should judge whether it is partial or not,” Ojha added. “Pawan Kumar Ojha is nothing but people should get a valid answer as there are people to judge the decision.”Ojha added that he was ready to face the parliament but he missed the chance. “I was prepared to face the parliamentary hearing because the lawmakers are not ‘tigers’ and there was no need to be scared of them.”He expressed displeasure with the JC for not informing him officially. He attended office today but returned in the afternoon after he got to know of the JC’s decision t. “Officially I did not get the decision,” Ojha complained. “I have to share many things but will do so after consulting my friends soon.”

Ananta Raj Luitel /himalayantimes